


The Meeting

by stercusfit



Category: Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward - Fandom
Genre: Gen, vlr spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2017-12-26 20:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/969774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stercusfit/pseuds/stercusfit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyle's first time meeting Akane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Major major MAJOR spoilers for VLR, please read at your own risk.

It had been nine years since Kyle had last seen his father. Nine years of avoiding him and staying in his room. Luna—the GAULEM that had been assigned as his ‘mother’—came every day to try and coax him out or attempt to socialize. He ignored her attempts, sticking to playing games and going through the education program assigned to him. He was now actively accepting the fact there was no one to accompany him and interact with in Rhizome-9. Not his father, not Luna nor the other GAULEMs , and most definitely not the occupants of the neighboring Rhizome’s. Did anyone occupy them? He didn’t know. No one ever told him otherwise. But he was sure that if anyone did, they were more of a family than this household was.

Each day was the same. He would get up and a knock on the door was Luna’s attempt at being sociable but also the mark that she had his breakfast. They made a routine by now that after about five minutes she would leave so he may receive the tray of food from the ground, then he would leave it out when he was done and the cycle would repeat for the other meals. However when he opened the door to get the tray this time, Luna just stood there. There was no tray, and she was standing there smiling at him. He was too confused to close the door, and he was too out of practice to speak (could he speak anymore? He was sure that was something you couldn’t forget how to do, though he wasn’t positive). 

“Kyle—we have a visitor. Or I suppose more of a new occupant here.”

He blinked, even more confused than before. Someone else had come to Rhizome-9? Why? Did they have something to do with his father’s work? Probably. That meant he wouldn’t be hearing much from either of them. Why then was Luna here to inform him of this person. It seemed silly, since he would seemingly never interact with them.

“Come. Miss Akane would like to meet you.” She motioned for him to follow and turned to walk towards the lounge. Miss Akane? So it was a woman? He stood in the door for a moment before following after Luna, not bothering with bringing his helmet (it was rather unlikely his father would be there to chastise him for not wearing it. 

His footsteps were heavy and loud due to the suit, making a clicking noise from metal contacting with the floor. What would the woman look like? Would she resemble Luna? She was the closest thing to a woman he had met. Did every woman have coral hair tied in two braids that were pinned to their head? It seemed like a silly thing to have everyone wear such a complicated hairstyle. Maybe all women did not look the same. He did not look like his father, after all (though who could say really he never saw any pictures of him when he was younger, and he was sure that his father did not always have a metal eye nor prosthetic limbs).

Lost in thought, he almost bumped into Luna who had stopped at the door to the lounge. It seemed as though she wanted him to go in first, and he did, walking in a bit shakily. Seated on one of the couches was a woman. She had long silver hair tied in a ponytail, and was decked from head to toe in a long, purple dress. She was elderly as well, like father. He could tell from the few wrinkles on her face. Standing nearby was his father, who looked rather irritable that Kyle didn’t have his helmet on, but said nothing about it.

“Hello, Kyle. It’s very nice to meet you.” The woman smiled at him. She knew his name already? Well he supposed his father could have told her, but why would he speak about his son who had actively avoided him for the past nine years? That seemed illogical. It was still odd that she knew his name but he not hers—no he knew hers. Luna had said it. Akane, right? 

“It’s…nice to meet you too, Akane.” Hearing his own voice surprised him. It was deeper than he remembered. When was the last time he talked anyways? Never mind that, Akane seemed to chuckle a bit at his response.

“Oh? So you learned my name through Luna is it? Still, it’s common courtesy to ask someone their name when you first meet.”

“I was never taught to do such a thing.”

“Is that so…” Her eyes darted to his father, who went wide eyed before glaring back at her.

“He’s avoided me for nine years, how do you expect me to teach someone manners when they shut themselves up for that long?” he retorted, eyes never shifting to look at Kyle. That was fine by him. What father was saying was true after all.

“If he doesn’t come out then you visit him, Sigma,” she scolded, turning her full attention to him. “He’s your son and you should be taking proper care of him.”

Kyle was in shock at what he was hearing from the woman. Here he was, just now meeting her for the first time, and she was defending him. He looked to his father to see his face start to fluster, opening his mouth to say something back, but shutting it when nothing produced itself. Never in the few times he had seen his father had he seen him react like that. He was in awe. This woman—Akane—was able to shoot down his father and scold him in an instant. But… Why? Why was she defending Kyle and scolding father? It seemed strange.

“Now then—Kyle,” he flinched when she spoke to him again, standing stock still where he stood. “You know that your father has been working steadily on a project, correct? And you have been taught enough to know the grounding of what he’s doing.”

He just nodded, not bothering to vocally confirm this. She just smiled back and stood up, showing just the difference in height between her and father. She was much smaller than him, yet was able to hold power over him and scold him so easily. It was amazing.

“Excellent. Then starting today, you will begin working with him in the lab.”

His eyes widened at the statement. He would do what? He looked over to his father briefly, who wore the same shocked expression as himself. Obviously he had not been told of this plan before hand.

“Akane—“

“Sigma,” she stated firmly, turning to him with a serious expression, “It’s about time you spent time with your own son. No matter the events in the future.”

There seemed to be an unspoken message that they both understood, but Kyle did not and ended standing there in confusion. But Akane turned back to him with a warm expression on her face and crossed over to Kyle, setting her hand on his shoulder. Why was she doing that? How was he supposed to react to that? He was about to ask when she spoke up.

“I look forward to living with you, Kyle.”

He didn’t have a response to that and just watched as she smiled and walked past him, immediately engaging in conversation with Luna as they left. Everything was confusing to Kyle, he’d never read about this sort of thing. His eyebrows knitted together in deep thought as he tried to sort it out, but he was pulled into reality by his father’s words.

“Come on Kyle, we have work to do.”

He looked up, his father’s face expressionless. It didn’t look as though he was expecting a reply because he started walking ahead of Kyle before he could give one. Was…was this what it was like to live as an actual family? If it wasn’t, he was positive this was the closest thing he could get to one.

And that idea made him happy.


End file.
